World AIDS Day 2001: I Care . . . Do You? Youth and AIDS in the 21st Century

Young people in Columbia affected by HIV/AIDS support each other. Photo: Armando Waak, PAHO

World AIDS Day 2001 in the United States focuses on youth and HIV/AIDS, with the theme I Care . . . Do You? Youth and AIDS in the 21st Century. While UNAIDS' international theme focuses on the role of men in the HIV/AIDS pandemic with the theme I Care . . . Do You?, the US World AIDS Day Advisory Committee chose to supplement the international theme to address issues of youth and HIV/AIDS.

The international theme focuses on men because generally it is men who decide with whom they have sex and whether condoms will be used. Men also comprise the majority of injection drug users. However, in the US, the Advisory Committee elected to address youth of both genders to reflect the growing importance of involving all young people in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The US theme -- I Care . . . Do You? Youth and AIDS in the 21st Century -- emphasizes that every individual has a responsibility and an opportunity to make a constructive contribution to the prevention of HIV/AIDS. The goal of World AIDS Day 2001 is to underscore that youth are significantly infected and affected by HIV and to call for greater education and involvement of young people in diagnosing, treating, and preventing HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS prevention and protection programs geared toward youth are needed now more than ever, as evidenced by these worldwide statistics:

• Young people under age 25 represent half of all new HIV infection cases.

• Ten million people ages 15-24 are living with HIV/AIDS.

• Every minute, five young people are infected with HIV.

These numbers are alarming not only because of their magnitude, but also because adequate information about HIV/AIDS has not fully reached youth around the world, including young people in the United States. Many young people with HIV today might not have become infected if they had learned more about the dangers of engaging in high-risk behaviors. As of 2000, 25% of teens surveyed in the US falsely believed that HIV testing was standard in routine exams, whereas fewer than one-third of sexually active teens in the US have been tested for HIV.